We've all seen filters on social media that change the appearance or feel of your photos. They might even improve your appearance. You can use an identical impact on video, and these are known as LUTs. In OBS, you can add them to a video or your webcam, which will change your face cam's appearance or increase its quality.
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Why do we need to use LUTs in OBS Studio?
Color grading presets called to look up tables can be used in video editing applications and OBS. They can be utilized to alter the tone of your photo or just add to its vibrancy. LUTs allow you to apply filters to your image in order to increase its quality or produce a dramatic effect. It may even save you money on a more expensive camera. Here are some reasons why you should use LUTs.
1. It brings perfection with time management!
LUTs aid in pleasing the client, completing the job on time, and achieving magnificent cinematic hues. A LUT is easy to use and only requires a few clicks. Whether lifestyle, personal, or business, some projects might take a long time to edit. Some projects have a very tight schedule, and editing can even be done overnight! LUTs come in handy in this situation. Most experts have had clients who demand video as soon as possible but have no idea how long it takes to create a video! It takes a lot longer than they anticipate.
However, you still want to provide a good project; color grading might take a long time to go through all of the clips and make them appear beautiful, and you may not have the time. Here, LUTs can definitely help.
2. It provides a polished finish!
Lookup tables might save you time when editing, but for many creative filmmakers and editors, LUTs are a way of polishing the final appearance of a film. When color grading is poorly done, it can impair the aesthetic of a movie and distract the audience. The beautiful thing about LUTs is that most of them on the market are created by other videographers, so you know they'll work on your movies right out of the box; all you have to do is make little tweaks to match the vision you have in your brain. If you've never used LUTs before but want to take your short films to an extraordinary level, try cinematic LUTs, which will give you that blockbuster vibe on a budget.
3. A command to adaptability!
They're highly adaptable. LUTs can be utilized to convert Log film back to the Rec709 standard, making the Log color profile more approachable to users who don't have years of color grading expertise. Professionals generally employ log color space to increase dynamic range and sustain shadows and highlights in contrasting scenes. Conversion LUTs now assist in getting over the arduous task of color grading Log footage.
Many pros and amateurs use conversion LUTs to make this step considerably easier. Many LUTs, notably creative LUTs, are compatible with a video that has been converted to Rec709 from Log. For use on Rec709 standard color film, creative LUTs typically preserve the cinematic and stylish colors. Rec709 is the most common color profile used by most cameras, making it the easiest to work with.
4. It gives a hint of professionalism!
Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Davinci Resolve, and other programs can use LUTs. They're ideal for any video where you want to create a distinct appearance or vibe. LUTs are essential for any aspiring or established filmmaker. They're utilized to quickly create high-quality visuals that give any project a polished look. They can also be used to give your video an overall color tone.
5. Creativity at your fingertips!
LUTs are a quick and easy way to achieve colors. Consider LUTs to be color grading professionals who share their knowledge via a LUT file. They do all of the heavy lifting, so you don't have to. Of course, some modifications may be necessary to make it suit perfectly with your camera video, but this is far easier than conducting the color grading process yourself, mainly if you aren't interested in learning how to color grade yet or just don't have the time.
Specifically, you need to acquire intricate color grading tools that are difficult to grasp if you haven't used them before. Pros even use LUTs in feature films. So don't think they're just for folks who don't want to color grade; they're utilized across the board in filmmaking.
Professionals utilize them to get a rough concept of how the film will look after the final grade is completed by looking at the monitors they use. LUTs are simply temporary file that instructs the computer to go from one set of colors to another. As a result, the professionals' expertise can be readily kept in this file and distributed to everyone who uses them.
For more easy-to-use effects and filters to make your video cinematic, have a try with Filmora! Filmora Creative Assets can provide countless cinematic packages for you to choose from. Filmora now offers 800+ top-quality LUTs cover a broad range of scenarios. Transform your videos with Filmora's powerful 3D LUTs.
How to use LUTs in OBS Studio
To create your LUT, follow the instructions below.
- Begin by downloading your preferred LUT. If it's only a single LUT, it'll probably download as a .cube file that you can put in your OBS filters folder. We recommend saving your LUT to the OBS LUTs folder, as this is where OBS will open it by default. If you download a ZIP file containing numerous LUTs, unzip them into your OBS filters folder. Yours will be at the same location as OBS.
- Then, either drag your LUT or unzip your LUT bundle into this folder. These LUTs will now be available for usage in OBS Studio.
- Then run OBS Studio. Select filters by right-clicking on your webcam source.
- Go to Effect Filters. Then click "+" located on the bottom left, click apply LUT, then give your LUT a name in the Filters panel.
- Select the LUT you wish to add to your webcam using the browse button.
- You can then modify the quantity slider to choose how powerful you want your LUT to be.
- You've just finished installing a LUT on your webcam. If you use the right LUT, you can radically transform the tone of your stream.
Free LUTs resource for OBS studio
Many of the greatest free LUTs may now be found freely on the internet. So, we did some digging and came up with the top list of the top free LUTs that every filmmaker and colorist should have. You'll probably find what you're looking for here, whether it's strong, dramatic LUTs or stylish, vintage LUTs.
1. Gaming careers free LUTs
Gaming Careers has created a LUT package that includes 30 free webcam filters that you may use on your webcam footage. It's a little bothersome that you have to join an email list to get the bundle, but it's well worth it. Each LUT is well-made and suitable for various situations and live feeds.
2. OBS forums free LUTs
This package contains 76 ready-to-use LUT filter files for OBS. Use these filters to create a film-like effect for your webcam stream or video clip. Blender's film color processing was used to generate the filters. Using Blender's picture compositor, the webcam presets were made by hand. These files can be used with OBS's LUT video filter.
3. Video Mark free LUTs
You'll get 18 cinematic LUTs with this Video Mark package. This filter set focuses more on a film effect. We suggest watching the accompanying demo film, which walks you through some of the LUTs included in this package and how to use them. Because this is an older video, it will use an older version of OBS, but the method should be the same.
4. Rocket stock free LUTs
For your next video production, you can get 35 FREE LUTs. Add one of these retro or cinematic effects to your footage or adjust them to suit your needs. The 35 Free LUTs from RocketStock are 3D.CUBE files may be used in a variety of NLEs and color grading tools.
5. Christian Mate Grab free LUT
Then there's Christian Mate Grab's LUT. It's only a single LUT filter with an orange and teal grade to give it a more cinematic appearance. This one likewise requires you to join their email list. You may color grade your films in real-time using straight in OBS.
